University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Travel and Tourism Research Association: 2007 ttra International Conference Advancing Tourism Research Globally WHERE THE CHIPS FALL: CULTURAL RESENTMENTS AND UNEXPECTED IMPACTS OF INDIGNENOUS OWNED CASINOS IN SOUTH-EAST CONNECTICUT, USA Barbara Anne Carmichael PhD Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University Jan Louise Jones PhD Department of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, University of Maine at Presque Isle Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/ttra Carmichael, Barbara Anne PhD and Jones, Jan Louise PhD, "WHERE THE CHIPS FALL: CULTURAL RESENTMENTS AND UNEXPECTED IMPACTS OF INDIGNENOUS OWNED CASINOS IN SOUTH-EAST CONNECTICUT, USA" (2016). Travel and Tourism Research Association: Advancing Tourism Research Globally. 43. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/ttra/2007/Presented_Papers/43 This is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Travel and Tourism Research Association: Advancing Tourism Research Globally by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Where the Chips fall: Cultural Resentments and Unexpected Impacts of indigenous owned casinos in Southeastern Connecticut By Barbara Anne Carmichael, PhD Department of Geography and Environmental Studies Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Jan Louise Jones, PhD Department of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism University of Maine at Presque Isle Presque Isle, Maine, USA ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the results of two academic studies related to the development of two native owned casinos, Foxwoods Casino and the Mohegan Sun, and the associated impacts and attitudes of local residents in Southeastern, Connecticut. Academic surveys were conducted within a few years after the opening of each casino. The casinos are located in close proximity to each other (about 20 miles apart) within a predominantly rural region. The differing histories of the two tribes and their changing relationships with the surrounding Connecticut residents provide an interesting study in cultural politics in which economic development is situated within the cultural, social and political relations that surround it. The perceptions of local residents in nearby Connecticut towns provide evidence of their perceived benefits and costs of casino development, as well as their changing relationships with their Indian neighbors. The results of both studies found that concerns were raised over the control and the scale and pace of development in which the surrounding US residents had no control. Unexpected issues were raised in the Mohegan Sun study about the influx of immigrant workers to the casino and their resulting impact on the towns public resources. Results of the Foxwood’s study indicate that the community is particularly preoccupied with the notion of tribal sovereignty and federal recognition. These cross sectional case studies compare and contrast some of the following major themes: development issues, native tribes as neighbors, ethnic diversity, tribal sovereignty and, impacts on education. These studies highlight some of the major themes and implications of the development of native owned casinos from the resident perspective. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the results of two academic studies related to the development of native owned casinos and the associated impacts and attitudes of local residents in Southeastern, Connecticut. It follows the call for research by Hsu in her statement: It is crucial to understand the impacts of Native American gaming on surrounding non Native American communities. These communities usually do not have any direct input on gaming policies and operations on reservations; however, the quality of life in those 31 communities could very much be changed because of those gaming operations (Hsu, 1999, p. 230). Several papers have been written about the growth of casino gaming in North America during the last decade of the twentieth century (Meyer Arendt and Hartmann, 1998, Eadington, 1995, Perdue et al., 1999), but few studies have focused on Indian gaming (Lew and Van Otten, 1998) and its associated impacts on surrounding communities. Stokowski (2004, p. 406) suggests that Indian gaming “is of substantial interest, but has received relatively little scholarly attention”. This is despite the fact that it is now almost twenty years since the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988 in the United States opened the door to Indian Gaming on reservation land. Casino developments have proven to be major catalysts for economic growth, wealth creation and reinforcement of sovereignty for most tribes that have adopted them. However, there are a number of economic, social and environmental impacts that accompany such changes in casino tourism that have affected both indigenous and local US surrounding communities. Research focus and debate has shifted from whether or not to develop casinos to questions investigating the nuances of these impacts, not just from the economic perspective but from the wider cultural and sustainability perspective (Carmichael, 2001, Piner and Paradis, 2004) . Large casino developments were identified by McIntosh et al. (1994) as a major force in the tourism industry. Large casino resorts, like other forms of mass tourism bring with them benefits and costs which may be perceived differently by local groups. Peck and Lepie (1989 p.203) suggest that both the rate (magnitude and speed) of development and amount of community involvement and control (power) over change affect the amount and distribution of payoffs and trade offs associated with increased tourism. Rapid changes can be particularly disruptive, especially for a controversial attraction like a casino, where attitudes and social representations are likely to be more polarized and in the situation of gaming on American Indian land, where Indian and surrounding communities are further divided on an ethnic basis (Carmichael et al., 1996). This paper focuses on an area in Southeastern Connecticut that has experienced rapid changes as a result of two mega-resort casinos developed on the reservation lands of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe (Foxwoods Resort Casino, opened 1992) and the Mohegan tribe (Mohegan Sun Casino, opened 1996). Academic surveys were conducted within a few years after the opening of each casino. The casinos are located in close proximity to each other (about 20 miles apart) within a predominantly rural region. The differing histories of the two tribes and their changing relationships with the surrounding Connecticut residents provide an interesting study in cultural politics in which economic development is situated within the cultural, social and political relations that surround it. The perceptions of local residents in nearby Connecticut towns provide evidence of their perceived benefits and costs of casino development, as well as their changing relationships with their Indian neighbor. This paper presents some of the ‘hot button’ issues, particularly the cultural resentments and unexpected social impacts of casino developments. 32 METHODOLOGY Qualitative data were gathered as part of wider and more quantitative studies of casino impacts. While not all respondents provided answers to these open ended questions some interesting conclusions were revealed by those who did. The Mohegan Sun data was collected in 2002, five years after the opening of the casino. A systematic random sample of 400 was drawn from the population of 8,500 Montville registered voters. A sample of 400 was drawn to account for potential non-deliverables due to changes of address or incorrect labeling. A total of 218 responded to the survey giving a response rate of 54.5%. Almost fifty percent (117) of respondents added a qualitative comment at the end of the survey. In 1995, three years after the opening of Foxwoods casino, a five percent systematic sample of telephone numbers was selected for the towns of Ledyard, North Stonington and Preston that surround the Mashantucket Pequot reservation. Of the 285 households contacted, 203 responded giving a response rate of 71.2 percent. The open ended questions included a) responses to reasons for supporting or not supporting gaming as an economic development tool (169 responses); b) reasons why attitudes toward the tribe had become more, less favorable or stayed the same since the casino opened (168 responses) and; c) any other comments that they would like to add about local casino development (109 responses). FINDINGS Data presented in this paper reflects the perceptions of local residents who live in Connecticut towns close to the Indian gaming establishments. While some of the dialogue addresses immediate issues, some are deep-seated and reveal historical relationships with the nearby Indian communities. For both locations, the casino resort was in the early stage of rapid product development. Resident comments and reactions may reflect ‘social disruption theory’ (Perdue et al. 1999) where they are faced with major unexpected changes in the quality of their environment and experiences. The ‘issue attention cycle’ idea outlines that when new issues catch media attention and affect resident lifestyles and perceptions, usually in the early stage of an event or threat, such issues may become ‘hot button’ items. In the following